


The Only Gift I'll Ever Need Is the Joy of Family

by agentsimmons



Series: Yours. Mine. Ours. [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Background Pepper/Happy - Freeform, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Morning, Christmas Presents, De-Aged, Domestic, Domestic Bliss, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, First Christmas, Fluff, Kid Clint Barton, Kid Darcy Lewis, Kid Fic, Kid Jemma Simmons, Kid Loki and Kid Thor, Kid Natasha Romanov, Kid Peter Parker, Kid Pietro Maximoff, Kid Sam Wilson, Kid Skye | Daisy Johnson, Kid Steve Rogers, Kid Wanda Maximoff, Large Families, M/M, POV Alternating, Parent Bruce Banner, Parent Tony Stark, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Romantic Fluff, Science Boyfriends, The Supersized Science Family, Unconventional Families, background Steve/Sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 16:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5504132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentsimmons/pseuds/agentsimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Starks and Banners spend their first Christmas day together. Set shortly after the end of <i>Lucky Thirteen</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Only Gift I'll Ever Need Is the Joy of Family

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas Eve to all of my wonderful friends and readers. This oneshot is just as much my indulgent Christmas gift to myself as anyone else who may be looking for some Christmas shmoop turned up to the max (I mean _the max_ ). 
> 
> Title inspired by "That's Christmas To Me" by Pentatonix.

There was repetitive soft knocking on the bedroom door, stirring Bruce from his sleep. He groaned a little as he opened his eyes slowly. The knocking continued and Tony stirred slightly beside him, perhaps in part due to his own movement.

"JARVIS?" Tony mumbled.

_It is Jemma, sirs._

"Oh right," Bruce said with a small sigh.

"'s Jem ok?" Tony asked groggily, not opening his eyes.

"Christmas breakfast," Bruce explained briefly as he tore himself away from Tony's body heat to sit up. He did so with a small brush of his fingers down Tony's arm. "You can go back to sleep," he assured him even as he wished he could too.

It was Christmas morning and Bruce and Jemma had a tradition of making Christmas breakfast together. Of course this was the first Christmas morning he had spent the night before at a party, not to mention the after party he mused as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and his feet met with some of their discarded clothes – whose clothes specifically he really wouldn't know at the moment.

As Bruce found his robe he was grateful that he and Tony had cleaned up before falling asleep – even with the mansion's heating, sleeping naked and damp in winter wasn't a preferable experience after all – since Jemma continued to knock tirelessly on the door. As his brain began to wake up he realized belatedly he should have asked JARVIS to let her know he was getting up and she could go wait for him. He opened the door to see her bright and shining face waiting as if the sun was already up.

"Is Tony going to help?" Jemma asked, looking up at him.

Bruce smiled at her offer and looked back over his shoulder only to see Tony had burrowed into the duvet and snagged his pillow on top of it. He chuckled softly. "No, sweetheart, I think Tony is going to let this be daddy and Jemma time," he said as he shut the door behind him and ushered her down the hall.

She had also nicely offered any of the others to join them, filled with the joy of giving no doubt, but Bruce wasn't surprised when none of the others were zealous enough to wake up this early even on Christmas morning. Although he was also sure Peter and Harley would be up soon enough, though not to help rather because of too much anticipation for presents to sleep any longer. While Jemma had offered he also got the feeling she wouldn't mind the others not joining in.

"Have a good sleep? Did you have any dreams of sugar plums?" Bruce asked Jemma as they headed into the kitchen. He walked over to the sink to wash his hands and then she did so as well.

"No sugar plums," she answered. "But I dreamed about the party. It turned into a winter fairy land and the dance floor magically turned into an ice skating rink. You fell a lot," she said with a giggle. She pulled over a chair to the island, getting up onto it on her knees for added height. "Leo was there too."

"So you don't think daddy can ice skate?" He asked in mock offense as he pulled out ingredients for three different kinds of pancakes along with the mixing equipment.

"Daddy, you fell when we went," Jemma pointed out earnestly, nodding a little.

Bruce continued the pretense of being contrary as he began to dole out the necessary amount of flour for each batter. "Hmm," he tilted his head, "I seem to recall you fell too." He then held out the measuring cup with the necessary amount of butter. "Think you can go put this butter in the microwave for me, buttercup?"

She nodded and hopped off the chair before grabbing it. "Are you going to start calling me flower names like Tony does?" She asked curiously.

Bruce paused, considering it. It did seem like one of those behaviors that could be easily picked up on. Tony had started calling Jemma, Jane, and Natasha by flower nicknames – among other nicknames because Tony had a penchant for descriptors and addresses – and he heard them enough that it was starting to seem natural. He had to smile at how it was yet another way their family was starting to blend together.

"Possibly," he answered as he cracked an egg into each bowl of batter. "But you're still my little molecule."

He then wondered if she was done discussing ice skating, but apparently she wasn't because as soon as the butter was done melting and she brought it back over carefully she said, "And I only fell because I'm little and my legs are still wobbly."

"Oh is that so, Bambi?" He teased and she giggled. "Well, I guess that settles that. Daddy can't skate very well." Of course it wasn't entirely true. He could skate well enough once he got his legs under him like most people, but he didn't mind if she wanted to poke a little fun at her 'old man' in that regard.

"Can I add the sugar?"

"Why yes you may, sugar," he answered her, Tony's penchant for nicknames clearly rubbing off he was starting to realize. "Do you remember how much?"

"Um…" Jemma closed one eye and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "One tablespoon?"

"That's right." He smiled at her. While she did that he added the butter to each batter. "Okay, which one do you want to stir? The blueberry one or the chocolate chip one or the pumpkin one?"

"Chocolate chip!" Jemma chirped and he gave a rusty chuckle.

"Alright, it needs a cup and one-fourth of milk. Pour that carefully and then you can start stirring in the chocolate chips." He had already measured out how many chocolate chips that would be appropriate.

Bruce stepped back and let her handle that, trusting her not to make too much of a mess – although some was to be expected, while he heat up the griddle and pulled down some plates. After that he moved back and made quick work of mixing the ingredients for the pumpkin pancakes. He then carried the bowl over to the griddle and began making those while Jemma finished up her slower work of mixing the chocolate chip pancakes.

"Done," Jemma said cheerfully and brought the mixing bowl over to him.

"Great job. Want to start on the blueberry pancakes?"

She nodded and he watched with a smile as she hurried back over to the island. By the time she was done mixing the batter for those Bruce had begun work on making the chocolate chip pancakes.

"Can I make one?" Jemma asked hopefully.

"Of course," Bruce answered with a nod. "Pull your chair over and let me finish these." She did as he asked and within a few short moments she was doling out a few spoonfuls of batter onto the large griddle. "So do you think Santa brought you what you want for Christmas?"

"Santa is a statistical impossibility," Jemma said smartly.

"Oh is he now?" Bruce hummed. "Then I guess Santa will have to take back all of those gifts he put under the tree."

Jemma looked at him with wide eyes. "No he can't!"

"Yeah, don't let him lie to you, Jemma," Jennifer suddenly chimed in and Bruce turned to see his cousin, who had stayed the night so she could spend Christmas with them without having to drive back. "Santa doesn't take back presents just because you don't believe."

Bruce chuckled at the face Jemma made, as if faced with a new existential conundrum over the existence or nonexistence of Santa.

"Good morning, Jen. Honestly, I forgot you were here," he admitted. "Did we wake you?"

He doubted it given the distance from kitchen to where she'd opted to crash on the couch; insisting on it in spite of their having a few free guest rooms now that Jemma was moved into Wanda's bedroom and Sam had moved back with his dad. Still he figured he should ask just in case. He then helped Jemma pull off the pancakes and moved to start some coffee for Jennifer. Thankfully Tony had the fastest model in existence – and Bruce had an inkling the genius had maybe even fixed it to go faster because it just didn't seem possible.

"I'm not surprised you forgot," Jennifer said with a small laugh as she moved over to where he stood and nudged him. "Not with the way you and Tony were practically undressing each other with your eyes all night," she said under her breath. Bruce felt his cheeks go warm and he coughed slightly. "Hey, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, Bruce. I'm just glad you're so happy. And, no, you didn't wake me up. That would be the two munchkins camped out by the Christmas tree like it's a covert mission."

Bruce chuckled. "Peter and Harley?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'll go keep an eye on them. Let me know when the coffee's—" Suddenly the machine went off indicating it was and she stared at it with wide eyes. "No way," she said in disbelief. "It can't already be done."

"I know," Bruce said with a nod as he pulled down a mug and handed it to her.

"That's crazy," Jennifer said as she poured herself a cup. She inhaled the scent of it dramatically. "Yeah, smells like coffee," she joked. She then turned to leave while Bruce turned back toward the stove. "Good morning, Tony," she then said and Bruce turned to see Tony passing by her into the kitchen, both pausing to greet each other. "I bet you already opened your Christmas present early," she said, nudging him like she'd done to Bruce.

Tony perked up immediately and smirked in spite of his endearing dead-eyed morning look. "Damn right I did," he answered and met Bruce's gaze. Bruce indulged him with a raised brow and obvious look over that Tony clearly appreciated. "Morning," Tony then said to Jennifer before she left.

"Morning, Tony," Jemma said, smiling at him from the chair.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said with a smile of his own as he headed for the coffee. "Smells like you're cooking up some delicious pancakes over there."

"I am!"

"You can start a few more," Bruce allowed her as they turned back toward the stove.

"Morning to you too," Tony said, coming over and wrapping an arm around Bruce's waist and observing the process with him. Bruce smiled and turned his head, their lips meeting instinctively in a lazy morning kiss. "The bed was cold and lonely without you," he mumbled fondly.

Bruce smiled against Tony's lips and pecked them quickly again. "That so?"

"Yes, so I'm here to offer my services. Thought I'd make some Christmas morning omelets. What do you think?"

"Sounds delicious," Bruce said with a smile and looked at Jemma. "Jemma, do you want to keep making pancakes or help Tony make omelets?"

Jemma looked back and forth between Tony and the griddle with a considering expression. "Can I do two more and then help you?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Bruce glanced at Tony to see him giving Jemma an exaggerated look of deliberation. "Hmm. I think…" He looked at her with a smile. "…that sounds like an excellent idea."

 

* * *

 

As they all gathered around the Christmas tree, Tony felt like he might be even giddier than the kids for this first big Christmas morning together and the overall experience of it. Bruce was quieter about it, but as they sat pressed close together on the couch, Tony could feel his excitement as well. They had asked the kids to make lists of things they wanted, big or small, simple or crazy, and he and Bruce had deliberated together over which item to select, or items if they asked for a few small things compared to any large things. 

"Okay," Tony asked exuberantly, "who wants to be Santa's helper and pass out presents?"

"Me!" Darcy and Jane said at the same time.

"Well, then, we should get through this in double time," Tony replied with a smile and Bruce chuckled.

The two girls immediately moved over to the tree and unsurprisingly started with the smaller sized packages. Who wouldn't want to save the larger packages for last after all?

"Loki," Darcy said, holding out a small wrapped box.

"I can see who's the least favorite," Loki drawled dramatically and Bruce groaned just as dramatically.

"This one is small too," Jane supplied with a shrug and handed it to Steve.

"You first," Steve said with a small laugh.

Loki removed the wrapping from his gift and opened the box. Slowly his skepticism turned to surprise as he pulled out several tickets for various shows on and off Broadway. On his list had been a set of tickets to any Broadway show, one for him and the other likely in hopes of asking Sig to join him.

Tony patted Bruce's knee and gave him a pleased smirk. "Oh, I think we might have gotten him too many," he said teasingly. Bruce smiled thinly at him and looked at his son.

"There are tickets here for…" Loki shuffled through them and then looked at them. "There are tickets for two to seven different shows here."

"You'll never be my least favorite," Bruce said evenly and Loki smiled genuinely.

"Thank you," he said, looking at both of them.

"Well, I guess good things come in small packages," Steve said optimistically as he began opening his own gift. He pulled out a high end leather wallet. "Hey, this is nice," he said with a nod. As he inspected and admired it, however, he pulled out a business card that was inserted inside. He studied it for a moment and then his eyes widened in understanding. "You mean… I really can? I thought it was just… Just something crazy, you know?"

"You really can," Tony answered. "No way of knowing if art school is something that interests you if you don't give it a shot, right?" He said in reference to the eight week professional art course being offered at NYU that spring for prospective art majors.

"Thank you," Steve said cheerfully. "This is… This is amazing." He immediately pulled out his phone and it wasn't hard to guess who he was going to send a quick text to – even if Rhodey and Sam, along with Pepper and Happy, would be over later that day for Christmas dinner.

Next Darcy spotted her gift and her passing out of gifts came to a quick halt as far as she was concerned. “IT’S PURSE SHAPED!” She shouted excitedly.

“Looks like a box to me,” Pietro said with a scrunch of his nose.

“Yes, but it’s just the right size for a purse to be inside that box,” she said with a knowing smile as she tore off the wrapping paper. Sure enough, once she opened the box she pulled out the designer purse she absolutely had to have if her all caps, bolded, underlined request had been any indication. If there was any doubt her delighted squeal made it clear. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Tony saw Bruce’s exaggerated grimace. “Yeah,” he agreed in a low voice, “I’m still not sure it was a good idea.” They’d gone back and forth about whether or not it was appropriate to get a twelve year old girl an expensive designer purse and had eventually consulted Pepper, Betty and even Jennifer before making their final decision.

“My box looks the same size,” Peter said, getting impatient and reaching for his as he obviously already had spied it out time and time again.

Tony laughed. “Go ahead,” he said. “And you might as well grab Harley’s while you’re at it.” Bruce snorted and Jennifer gave a small laugh as well.

Peter and Harley cheered and Peter did just that. He handed Harley his gift and then looked at his own.

“You can go first, bro,” Harley said with a wide smile.

Bruce leaned into Tony at the gesture and Tony knew it was also because suddenly the two boys had begun referring to each other casually as ‘bro’ more than using terms like ‘dude’ and it was a hopeful sign.

“So I can get a rat too?!” Peter asked excitedly as he held up a box for an assembly required tunnel system.

“You can pick one out after the holidays, Petey,” Tony answered. "And all the stuff you'll need to get the little guy or gal set up is part of your gift okay?"

“Sweet!”

“We can totally race them!” Harley said excitedly as if it was just as much his gift as Peter’s. He then ripped hurriedly into his own gift. “Awesome!” He exclaimed as he revealed the newest iteration of the Disney Infinity game and several of the toys that went with it.

“Now because you both asked for that and you’ll probably be sharing it in your room anyways,” Bruce started, “we figure you can share the tunnel system for both of your rats.”

“Cool. Sounds good to me,” Harley said with a shrug.

“How about Wanda next,” Jane said as she held out a rather large box with a smaller one tied with ribbon to the top.

"Wow, jackpot," Jennifer said, nudging Wanda since she sat beside her.

Wanda carefully unfastened the ribbon and opened the smaller box. Immediately she smiled as she pulled out a red riding jacket. "I love it," she said happily. "It's exactly how I imagined it would be." She held it up to show it off.

Tony gave a small sigh of relief and Bruce nodded. Wanda had only listed _red riding jacket_. That had resulted in a million different choices. They'd finally had to pick one they thought she would like and would suit her.

The next moment of truth would be the gift to come, part of a packaged deal. She had only indicated _new_ so they had taken the liberty of picking out something they hoped she would like.

Her eyes went wide as she opened the box and looked inside. "Oh my gosh. Oh my… It's perfect!" She pulled out the red and black saddle and looked at it closely before looking at Tony and Bruce, her eyes still wide. "It's perfect! Thank you! Scarlet is going to look amazing."

"Glad you like it sweet pea," Tony said, relieved once more.

"Thor's turn," Darcy said in a chipper tone. She then looked over the large box. "Um, I think it's bigger than he is," she said.

They all laughed, including Thor, and he moved to grab it himself. He opened the large box and pulled out a hockey helmet, skates, and guards. An earnest smile spread across his face.

"Thank you," he said and immediately tried on the helmet and strapped on a glove. "Now I can really start to learn the game."

"Have fun," Tony said with a nod. Thor had added hockey to the list of sports he had tried recently and had a certain kind of knack for.

"There's another small one here," Darcy said, looking down. "It was hiding behind Thor's."

Jane grabbed it. "It's Natasha's," she said with a smile and handed it to her sister.

Tony looked over to see Bruce trying desperately hard not to smile too much as Natasha opened the relatively small package. She pulled out a pair of black ballet shoes and her face fell slightly.

"Oh, uh…" She cleared her throat. "Thanks. I've never had black before. They're definitely me."

"Tony…" Bruce looked at him in panic and shook his arm a little. "Tony, I think we messed up."

"No," Tony said evenly. "Impossible. The list specifically said ballet b something or other."

"Barre," she said and then looked down at the shoes with a considering look.

"See, I told you black didn't make sense," Bruce said with a small scowl. "Ballet _black_?"

"It was an honest mistake," Tony said defensively as he held up his hands. He then looked back at Natasha. "Your list had something spill on it and all we saw was ballet and a b."

"You could have just asked her," Steve pointed out in slight confusion.

Tony saw the way both Clint and Natasha immediately looked at him studiously. He was starting to get just a tad bit frightened by their combined skills, even if this was just a silly jest.

Natasha raised one eyebrow. “What did you actually get me?”

Bruce let out a huff of a laugh and gave Tony a meaningful nod. “Told you we couldn’t pull one over on her.”

Tony laughed as well. “It was worth a shot.”

“You didn’t even really try,” Clint said with a disappointed looking shake of his head. “I mean, your reasoning was weak. You should have just let her gone on thinking all she got was the shoes. See if she’d get upset.”

“That _would_ have been best,” Loki agreed.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one a little scared here,” Tony stage whispered to Bruce.

“Yeah, see I moved past a little scared a while ago,” Bruce answered. “We’re hopelessly outgunned, Tony.”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, we are. On that reassuring note…” He looked at Natasha with a smile. “The barre will be installed next week.”

“Installed?" Natasha gave a genuinely confused look and Tony's smile might have widened just a smidgen at being able to still at least surprise the perceptive teen. Bruce looked pleased as well.

"What?" Tony asked with a lilt. "You didn't think we would just get you some boring ballet barre now did you? Not when there's a perfectly good corner of the gym not really being used by anything else."

She looked surprised. "You're going to have a professional grade barre installed in the gym?"

Bruce looked at Tony, clearly grateful he had suggested it. "Yeah," Bruce answered her, looking back. "Along with a mirror and section of dance floor. Mostly Tony's suggestion," he gave him credit.

She looked at them both and then smiled thinly. "Thank you."

"Hey, it was a no-brainer," Tony said, lifting his hands a little. "Why just stop with the barre when you can have a small dance studio? I might even take up ballet."

There were several loud protests ranging from groans to "no, dad, please don't" while Bruce chuckled beside him.

"You gave up five minutes into our meditation session because your legs were falling asleep, Tony," the man beside him said. "I don't think you could handle ballet. And I love you, but I don't want to see you in tights."

"Really? Not even a little?" Tony asked with a leer as Bruce rolled his eyes. "I can make them pink."

"Alright, next gift," Bruce said in non-answer.

"Here's yours, Jemma," Darcy said and handed Jemma her box.

Immediately Tony forgot the previous teasing. He and Bruce gave each other an excited glance as she opened the gift and pulled out a box with a collector's edition Anne Shirley doll. The girl had asked for absolutely anything to do with the Anne books as she and Bruce had finally reached the end of the series and they had been declared her favorite books.

"She's lovely!" Jemma cheered. She then looked strangely at the small brochure taped to the box. She studied it for a moment and then her eyes widened. "We can actually go to the island?" She jumped up and hurried over to them with a hopeful, doe-eyed expression.

Bruce leaned forward and held her hands in his own and nodded. "It won't be until it's warm enough again, but we already bought the full package for you, me, and Tony. And one other kid that wants to tag along," he added, looking at the others.

Jemma squealed and stomped her feet several times in a show of her excitement. "Thank you!" She then immediately launched herself at Bruce and hugged him tight, kissing him on the cheek. Tony smiled at the scene, but then before he could blink the same treatment was showered on him as well.

"You're very, very welcome," Tony said, hugging her back.

Jennifer leaned over and muttered to Bruce, loud enough that Tony caught most of it, "If your gift is ring-box shaped, you'd better say yes."

Tony didn't make any indication that he'd heard and it _wasn't_ what he'd gotten Bruce, but he'd be lying if impulse hadn't told him a few times and then a few more times after that to go for broke and do just that.

“Oh, here's mine!” Jane interrupted happily, but then looked at the gift next to it. “Oh, but here's Skye’s. Do you want to go first?” Jane asked thoughtfully.

“How about we open them at the same time?" Skye suggested.

"Good, because this is taking forever now that there's thirteen of us," Pietro whined.

Jane looked around at the gifts and then grabbed one. "Well, here's yours if you want to join us," she suggested. "Or you can go first," she also offered with a shrug.

Pietro grabbed it eagerly and, as Tony expected he would, quickly pulled off the wrapping paper to reveal pretty much the only thing he'd been talking about nonstop: a hoverboard.

"YES!" He exclaimed and looked at it like it was the best thing he'd ever seen in his life or ever would again.

Tony shook his head. "It's so weird that we sort of have those now."

"I know right," Jennifer agreed.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to patent it and make it first," Bruce said, smirking at him.

"I've been too busy attempting to recreate Tron," Tony said breezily.

"Ah. Suddenly it all makes sense," Bruce said in deadpan.

"Okay, let's open ours," Skye said to Jane and they even counted down playfully.

Tony smiled as he thought about how their befriending each other at the junior conference had led to him and Bruce having a reason to spend more time together.

"A telescope!" Jane announced her present first and it was like there were stars already in her eyes as happy as she looked. And it wasn't just some low-grade kind, rather a higher-grade model that would really help her with her pursuits in astronomy.

"I'm so glad I could finally afford it," Bruce murmured for probably the millionth time since they'd purchased it, clearly moved by his daughter's moon-eyed expression.

Tony squeezed his hand and murmured in earnest, "Me too." He then moved his gaze toward Skye.

"This is _exactly_ what I wanted. Thank you," Skye said as she pulled out the black leather jacket. "I was a little afraid you wouldn’t get the right one if I put it on the list," she said with a laugh as she put it on to try. "I almost attached a photo," she teased. She'd only listed black jacket from a specific store.

"Your dad went straight to the jacket and said, 'this has got to be the one she means,'" Bruce said.

"So I guess it's a good thing I was right," Tony added with a laugh of his own. "Or else it would have been a bit of a blow to my ego."

"Hey! The matching gloves!" Skye then exclaimd when she noticed them.

"Well, didn't want you to not have a complete ensemble," Bruce said evenly, betraying he'd been the one to suggest she might want them too.

"Thanks," she said with a nod.

"Then there was one," Darcy said as she handed a very large box that she could barely pick up over to Clint.

"Since your list was a little skimpy on the suggestions," Tony said in reference to the list that said _whatever, a new bow maybe, sunglasses?, new jacket, whatever_ , "and since your birthday is in a couple of weeks—"

"You already got me the new crossbow I've been talking about didn't you?" Clint asked.

"Not exactly," Tony said with intentional vagueness and Clint's eyebrows moved closer to his forehead. "But you'll just have to wait and find out," he added.

"So we took the liberty of getting something else not on your list," Bruce continued nervously and Tony knew it was because ultimately it had been his suggestion they'd settled on together. "If you… If you don't like it, just say so and we'll—"

"Hell yeah, it's a pizza oven!" Clint said as he ripped off the wrapping paper.

Bruce audibly sighed and Tony gave him a reassuring squeeze on his knee. "See, I told you it was an inspired idea," he told him as they watched Clint study the box.

"You say that now," Natasha chimed in, "but in three months we'll all be sick of pizza."

Tony gave her an incredulous look. "As often as you kids ask for pizza? Not likely."

"Thanks, dad. Thanks, doc," Clint said.

After that they let Jennifer open the few gifts they got her and they opened the small items she'd gotten them. Finally, Jemma asked, "What about your gifts?" She looked at Bruce and Tony and then back at the tree at the two remaining gifts.

"Open them at the same time?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"Sure," Bruce said with a shrug as Darcy and Jane brought their gifts over.

Tony slowly opened his gift as Bruce did the same. Tony's eyes widened as he pulled out a framed photo of the two of them at the banquet that last night of the conference. He heard Bruce's surprise at his own gift, but he was too busy studying the photo.

It was just a general, candid photo of the two men enjoying themselves, clearly taken by the event photographer, but it was special in that it was a moment captured before they'd given into their feelings. It was a moment capturing the beginnings of what they would become. And as Tony smiled at the photo it was like he was back at that conference, falling head over heels, and it seemed clear just from the unsuspecting snapshot what was going on between them; they looked to be caught in each others' gravity even in the still frame.

"How?" He asked as Jennifer reached for the photo to look at it and he handed it off to her.

"I… I had JARVIS help me track down the event photographer," Bruce said with a sheepish smile. "And I asked her if she had any good quality photos of us in her archive from the event."

"That's so sweet," Jennifer said as she and the others looked at the photo. "Look how lost you both already were."

"I think you mean found," Tony said with a smile and stole a kiss from Bruce.

When they pulled away, Bruce looked down at the book in his hands. "You were right, boys," he said and looked over at Harley and Peter. "He got me an awesome gift." He then looked at Tony strangely. "What about you? How?"

Tony ducked his head. "I told you. I read through all of your papers and articles. And, uh, after I got back home I may have had JARVIS make sure I had them all saved," he admitted, raising his gaze to meet Bruce's awed one. "So I pulled some strings with SI's go to editor and gave him copies of your stuff to pull into one volume. That's the only copy since you'd have to be involved to get the thing published for the masses – which is an option if you want it by the way, but…" He paused and smiled. "But I figured the world needed at least one book by Dr. Bruce Banner in it."

Bruce's hand found the back of Tony's head and pulled him into a deep kiss. Tony only barely registered the various comments of "aww" and "that's sweet too" as Bruce stole his breath away; it was a sensation that he would never grow tired of.

"Thank you," Bruce whispered when he finally pulled back.

"It's just a book," Tony replied, feeling a little dazed.

"No, it's not just a book and you know that," Bruce countered with another kiss.

Tony smiled into it and they lost themselves, or rather found themselves, for another short moment before there was a surprised gasp from Skye, pulling them back to the moment and the rest of their perfectly blended family.

"Guys, there's a Disney brochure in here," she said and there was a round of cacophonous response.

Tony smiled more widely, realizing the others had grabbed the book at some point to look at while he and Bruce had been in their own world. He pulled back to give Bruce a conspiratorial look.

"I was wondering when we would tell them," Bruce mumbled and smirked slightly.

"I figured you would be quick enough to catch on when you opened the book and troll them with me," Tony said with a quiet laugh. "This works too."

"You're taking daddy to DisneyWorld?" Jemma asked, her face scrunched cutely in confusion.

Tony laughed a little more loudly. "Yeah, just your daddy."

"I've always wanted to go," Bruce played along. "Thank you, Tony."

"But I've always wanted to go too," Jemma protested, though a little timidly.

"They're definitely messing with us," Harley said in a knowing tone. But then he gave them a somewhat doubtful glance. "Right?"

"Well, maybe they figured it'd be crazy to take 13 kids to DisneyWorld," Jennifer said, helping the two men out, but the look she gave them told Tony she actually thought it seemed like a crazy notion.

"No, he's definitely messing with us," Darcy said with conviction. She grabbed the brochure and looked at it. "See, they circled the family package."

"Why is there a 4x on it?" Pietro asked dubiously as he looked over Darcy's shoulder.

"What does 4x usually mean?" Bruce quizzed and Tony smiled at his ongoing efforts to support Pietro at any chance possible in understanding math.

"It means four times an unknown number," Pietro answered with a shrug.

"Right," Bruce replied. "Only in this case the unknown number is known to us. The package we circled is priced approximately based on a family of four. So it'll be about four times that cost for us all to go."

"Ouch," Steve said practically. "That's like the cost of tuition for a year at some colleges," he said, obviously knowing it full well now that he only had a semester left of high school.

"Yeah, how did you ever get my cousin to agree to that?" Jennifer gave Tony a curious look.

"I'm offended," Bruce said with a frown.

"Yeah, we know it's not exactly a practical expense," Tony had to admit. "But we talked it over—"

"And then talked it over some more," Bruce interjected pointedly.

"And eventually we decided it's one of those experiences we should monopolize on while we're still all together," Tony explained. "What with half of you on the verge of going off on your own… hopefully," he teased.

"We're pretty spoiled," Clint said with a shrug. "Not much point in flying the coop right away," he teased back.

"So, yes, we're going to DisneyWorld. Yes, it's completely impractical. Yes, I'm on board with the idea," Bruce stated matter-of-factly.

That seemed to be all it took for the group to digress into excited chatter about the impending vacation. Tony and Bruce shared a smile as they listened.

 

* * *

 

Jemma snuggled a little more deeply into her dad's arms and decided this might have been one of the happiest Christmases she'd ever had. The lights were low and the fireplace was bright. They had just finished Christmas dinner, that Clint and Steve had prepared together for them to enjoy, and now they were all gathered around in the family room again – joined now by Sam, his dad, Pepper and Happy – listening to Loki finish a recital of _A Visit From St. Nicholas_. Every year he recited it to them after dinner and it was one of Jemma's favorite parts of the day because Loki had such a nice reading voice. Now he had more people to listen to him, she thought happily.

"'But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight," Loki recited the final stanza, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.'"

Jemma clapped for him and the others joined in. Loki gave a small bow of his head.

"I have to say," Pepper said, "this has been one of the best Christmases in a long time." Jemma thought she had a sparkle in her eyes as she looked around at all of them and then at Happy.

Jemma still missed having her Aunt Betty around, but Pepper was really nice too. She was different, but still nice. And she cared about them. It was also nice that now she got to see her cousin Jennifer more often because they lived closer to her. She still missed Leo too, of course, but she was glad now that she hadn't been able to run away for good.

Jemma looked up at her dad and then turned her head to look up at Tony on her other side. He noticed and smiled at her. He had such a nice smile and sometimes she still felt a knot in her stomach and lump in her throat when she remembered him being in the hospital.

She quickly shifted from her dad's hold and hugged Tony tightly. "Merry Christmas," she said and meant it maybe more than she ever had before. She wanted him to know she was happy that they were all spending Christmas together even if it was new and different.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jemma," he said, sounding happy too, and hugged her warmly.

"Oh!" Jemma suddenly jumped back as she remembered something important. "We haven't given you and daddy your gift yet." She looked at the others. "We haven't given it to them."

"I guess in all the excitement about Disney we forgot," Wanda said as she looked around at the others as well. "I guess we should do that now?" They all nodded. "JARVIS, can you start the gift?"

 _With pleasure_ , JARVIS answered. _And may I wish everyone a Merry Christmas._

"Thanks, JARVIS," Wanda replied. "Merry Christmas to you too… again."

"Okay, you have to look at the television," Jemma instructed Tony and her dad and then hurried over to the others.

The video came on with a greeting they recorded for them.

"This has been a crazy year," Steve started it off. "But in a good way."

"I'm so glad that I talked to Aunt Pepper about the conference," Skye said next.

"Me too," Tony responded to that as he watched.

"We weren't certain what to get you both for Christmas," Thor continued, "but we knew it had to be special after everything that's happened."

"We decided sentiment was the best course of action," Loki added next.

"So we politely asked JARVIS to gather as many videos from the past several months as possible," Wanda said.

"And I've been taking lots of photos!" Peter said cheerfully.

"And I've been using my spy copter," Harley added.

"Essentially," Natasha redirected the message, "we threw together a sappy montage of our time together so far for your viewing pleasure. Ten bucks says dad starts crying first."

"Oh god," Bruce said at that with an emotional chuckle. "I'm already on my way."

"No worries," Tony linked their hands together. "I am too."

"Maybe, but not by much," Pietro added teasingly in the video.

"See, he knows," Tony said with his own emotional chuckle.

"So here's to how you've turned our worlds upside down by falling in love," Clint said on the video.

"And here's to how you've done everything you can to help us adjust to the change," Jane said next.

"Here's to this year and hoping that next year and the years after are just as awesome," Darcy continued the greeting.

Lastly Jemma smiled and said. "Here's to our dads."

Then all at once they said, "Merry Christmas."

The montage then began to play and Jemma watched them both watching the video. Sure enough, it wasn't long before she realized they were both tearing up over the memories she and the others had painstakingly gathered and put together.

Her favorite part wasn't until toward the end which was footage of the eighties dance party Tony had thrown; it had been one of her favorite moments while still trying to get used to everything and before she'd gotten overwhelmed by all of the change. And her dad looked so happy in that footage that she couldn't help but feel happy too.

At the moment, however, she was closing one eye and making a small face at the footage the older kids had added as a joke. Sam's dad whistled and everyone was making encouraging noises except her dad who was groaning and Tony who was laughing.

"Okay, this is not at all appropriate," Tony said even as he laughed at the various clips and photos of him and Bruce kissing.

Jemma closed her eyes entirely at the last clip as it was of her dad and Tony making out in one of his old cars in the garage and it was a little embarrassing to watch. She heard Peter and Harley snickering and saying, "eww gross" and "why do old people kiss so much?" Jemma opened her eyes again just as it faded into pictures of their dads and the family that Steve had drawn.

"You know, Bruce," Tony said, "all that proved was how hot we are together."

"Does he have an off button?" Jennifer asked with a laugh.

"No," Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey said at the same time.

"Actually…" Bruce said, but didn't finish. Jemma giggled at the way Tony's eyes went wide and he looked at her dad in surprise. Bruce laughed a little too. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. Besides, I like you better when you're on."

The other adults groaned and Jemma scrunched her face as she considered what all of it meant before looking back at the television.

"The pictures were great by the way, Steve," Tony said as the montage faded into several clips and photos of the kids interacting. "You know, we should get some prints of them copied for art around the house."

"Oh, that's a great idea," Bruce agreed.

Jemma glanced over at her brother to see him smile that smile that said he appreciated the idea even if he wasn't going to brag. Sam was looking at him with a wide smile that said he was proud of him.

Finally the video neared the end. It started with footage from when Tony showed up to surprise Harley on his birthday and played through other footage and photos from birthdays, holidays and various celebrations. Jemma hopped a little in excitement when the eighties party footage played. They all laughed when there was footage of them in their various costumes at Halloween time. And they all smiled at the footage of them putting up the Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving. The video ended at last with the group hug that they had all shared the day Tony had come home from the hospital.

"That may be the most wonderful Christmas gift I have ever gotten," Tony said first, wiping at his eyes.

Bruce wiped at his as well and nodded. "I know it is," he said.

"I think your dads need a reenactment," Pepper prompted them gently.

Jemma wasted no time in running over to them and tugging on both of their arms at once to stand up. Once they did, she tried to wrap her arms around both of their waists at the same time. Soon the others were gathered around her and their dads in a warm group hug. As she felt the love from her large family that surrounded them Jemma was even more thankful her dad had come to find her and bring her back home.

Also now she was certain that this Christmas with all of them together was definitely the happiest she had ever had. And because it was only their first together she couldn't help but look forward to the Christmases to come.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was an enjoyable addition to this crazy ~~little~~ family. I was a little worried about all the pressure from people who liked the original story, but I still wanted to add to the verse. I also chose to end it with Jemma's pov so as to give a little insight into how she's been doing over the few months since her breakdown and since I thought it might pair nice with her being the youngest on Christmas.


End file.
